Daniel 4:25  …know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

Since our family arrived here in Zaragoza in 1997, we have enjoyed religious freedom in our efforts to preach the gospel.  This has always been the case under the socialist government, which consistently has been against the favoritism that the Catholic Church had under the more conservative Popular Party.  However, under President Jose Rodriguez Zapatero, the attacks against traditional marriage and family have become increasingly intense. A Bible believing pastor named Marcos Zapata came to Zaragoza recently  to deliver a speech titled, "How to Raise Heterosexual Children." Among other things, he urged fathers to "reinforce their sons' masculinity" and show them affection. "If you don't [hug your kids]," he warned, "perhaps another man will." When the agency of Equality and Welfare learned of the talk, it moved quickly to investigate "any type of proselytism or homophobic attitude" on Zapata's part. This pastor continues to receive criticism for what he said.  President Zapatero was just re-elected, and we wonder what other kinds of opposition will result from another four years under this party’s rule.  Nevertheless, I am thankful that we never have been looking to the government to solve the problems that Spain, nor any other country faces.

The truth is that most of the time we see little opposition to the preaching of the gospel, indifference is much more common.  However, lately we have seen that changing, too.  In the town of Zuera, one of the young people from the Zaragoza church talked to me about a classmate of hers whom she had been witnessing to.  He said he had a Bible that he wanted to give her, but that he wanted to “decorate” it first.  She showed it to me one Saturday after the youth meeting.  The young man had written on the covers and the binding of the Bible, using the vilest blasphemies that he could think of.  This young man then proceeded to drill about 20 holes in it with a drill press.  He also told her that if she had been a man that he would have physically hurt her for trying to talk to him about God.  In the town of Leciñena, we had made plans to follow up on an older Romanian lady named Elena.  The night before we went to see her, the woman’s daughter called up Simona, our Romanian translator.  The daughter screamed at Simona over the phone for several minutes, threatening her with bodily harm if we came to their house.  A woman in another nearby town, Perdiguera, also began yelling at us after we asked her if she believed the Bible was the word of God.  She continued yelling at us for the next 10-15 minutes or so, pointing her finger at us the whole time, eyes wide, as she talked to us about bizarre things like women getting raped in the streets in Jesus’ times.  The owner of the restaurant in Pina de Ebro where we have had our Bible study for the last several months also kicked us out of his restaurant, telling us that he didn’t allow any religious or political meetings in his restaurant.

Luke 11:21-22  When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:   But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him…

We believe that this recent opposition is because we are starting to make waves in this land that Satan has had rule over for so long.  A couple of weeks ago, David and I did questionnaires in the town of Zuera.  We must have spoken to 8-10 people that morning, every single one of them was at least 70 years old.  The Lord reminded me of how important it is that we continue what we are doing, because time is running out for many of these elderly Spaniards who have never heard the gospel.  One woman told us something that further strengthened our resolve to preach the gospel in the towns.  She told us that she had lived for 40 years in Zaragoza in a building that was less than a block from an evangelical church.  Yet she never went in, so she never heard the message.  She moved to a village 30 minutes from Zaragoza where there is no church, and heard the gospel for the first time!  In addition, our Bible study in Tauste has been touching many people.  We usually have 6-10 people there, about half from Zaragoza and the other half people who live in Tauste.  Besides Dunia and Mihaela, who are both saved and attending church in Zaragoza, we have seen the following ladies in attendance:  Diana (Mihaela’s sister-in-law), Yolanda (who works with Dunia), Monica, Azucena (who we met doing questionnaires), her daughter Jessica, her sister Mari, and María Angeles (one of Azucena’s neighbors who we also met thru questionnaires).  We are excited about these ladies and many others whom we have had the chance to minister to and preach the gospel to. 

2 Timothy 3:15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

We are also excited about the visitors that came to the special event that the Zaragoza young people had last Saturday.  They spent several weeks preparing for it: music, mime, a short play, illusions and a skit.  There were about a dozen first-time visitors for whom we ask you to pray.  Here are the names of the people who came, and those who brought them.  Mabel  brought her classmate Ana; Daniel came with his friend Chema; Laura invited her classmate Andrea; Patri brought her brother Sergio, as well as four classmates of hers and Ester’s.  Their names are Silvia, Patri, Ionela, and Silvia (yes, 2 with the same name!).  Neli brought Sara and Patri; and Natalia and Miriam invited Monica.  Please pray that God would use the messages they heard to spark a spiritual interest in them.  What a joy it would be to be able to see more people come to know the scriptures from their youth as Timothy did!!

Psalm 37:25  I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Lastly, we would like you all to know that God continues to provide for our needs.  Despite the fact that the dollar continues to hit record lows, God has used many different things to meet the needs that we have.  Among them are several individuals who have started supporting us, as well as a church that stopped supporting us in the past and recently started again.  Please pray for us as we have several large expenses coming up in the near future.  Please understand that this is not a thinly-veiled plea for money.  This is a bold request that the people who have been faithfully praying for us over the years would once again go to the throne of God asking for Him to provide for our needs.  We have seen Him do it so many times over the years that we are sure He CAN do it.  We are asking you all to pray that He WILL.  Once again, we thank you all for your generosity and perseverance.  May the Lord help us to be worthy of your sacrifices!

For His Glory,

The Taglialatela family

Sent by First Bible Baptist Church

Rochester New York

Pastor George Grace